Skip to main content

Curriculum development, Education Fellowships

Inclusive Education: Disability and Dyslexia by Dr Ceri Morris

11 December 2023
Sabrina Toumi

Sabrina Toumi

Inclusive education
“ I feel like I can’t ask, that I will seem annoying and stupid”.

“The most frustrating thing is wheeling into lectures late, and getting looks from lecturers, or students – when I have to rush everywhere, use back doors, find my way into lifts, wait for the one disabled toilet in the break. And then sit on my own at the front, like Billy bloody no mates”.

“Dyslexia for me means that I’m like a computer system where my brain is the computer, and my hand is a printer, but they are disconnected”.

(Quotes from Cardiff University Students, 2022)

In Cardiff University, the numbers of disabled students has risen over the last 5 years, from just below 4000 to 4,681 students in 2022/3 (13% of the student population).  Across the UK, the most prevalent category is ‘learning difference’ (for example, dyslexia or dyscalculia), comprising more than a third (35%) of disabled applicants, and representing 5% of all UK applicants (UCAS 2022).

The Social Model of Disability challenges medicalised assumptions around disability, and suggests that while impairment may be the condition, disability is created by social conditions: being ‘the disadvantage or restriction of activity caused by contemporary social organisation which takes no or little account of people who have impairments and thus excludes them from the mainstream of social activities’ (UPIAS 1978).

If we apply the social model in higher education, we can begin to appreciate that disability is  created by the traditional processes, procedures and practices of learning, teaching and assessment, and of organisation and communication, which create barriers to learning and attainment for our disabled students. For example a requirement for a diagnosis or assessment prior to adjustment to teaching practice or assessment would be an illustration of the medical model, whereas flexible, inclusive or universally designed learning would be an example of the social model.

Morina (2017: 5) completed a detailed literature review of the issues for disabled students, and summarised the lived experience detailed in the research: ‘These students’ paths are frequently very difficult, somewhat like an obstacle course, and students even define themselves as survivors and long-distance runners’. In addition, she highlighted the low disclosure rate for ‘hidden disabilities’.

Disabled Students UK (2023) recently commissioned a study of disabled students’ experience in Higher Education and identified six key principles and targets for improvements,  for example ‘Disabled students should experience a positive culture at their institution, which promotes inclusion, belonging and a healthy approach to productivity.’

So what can we do?: The Continuum of Support (AHEAD 2021)

The continuum of support

Inclusive education requires a continuum of supports that reaches from teaching spaces to support services, and which incorporates the provision of reasonable adjustments. As teachers we need to consider firstly the bottom layer, our inclusive, universal design for learning, and then our signposting and interaction with the higher levels.

Top Tips: Five Core Practices for Inclusive Education

If we follow just these five core practices for inclusive education, our numbers of reasonable adjustments would be reduced by 54%! Each of these practices supports many more students than disabled students, for example, those with English as an Additional Language, and those with caring responsibilities.

  • Provide all resources for the session 48 hours in advance via Ultra, including PowerPoints and documents
  • Record all lectures, and enable students to audio record sessions.
  • For seminars or other active sessions, provide notes in Ultra, or ask students to summarise discussions or activities.
  • Provide coherent reading lists which are accessible in advance, have literature easily available online or in Ultra, and which indicate which are essential, desirable and ‘other’ readings
  •  Be aware that some of your students will have medical needs which may mean they may not be able to attend, or may need to leave sessions early

You can learn much more about learning and teaching for Disability and Dyslexia in our CPD workshops on 14th December or 10th June 2025, which can be taken asynchronously. There is also a World Café on the topic on the 7th December, where you have the opportunity to talk with others, develop and share practice in mixed discussion groups that transcend the boundaries of Schools, roles and directorates. You can find all the details for enrolment on our Learning and Teaching academy CPD page. The Disability and Dyslexia Toolkit page, part of the Inclusive Education Theme of the Education Development Toolkit will be released on the 15th of December.

For a quick summary of what you can do and how you can support learning for students with disability and/or dyslexia in your sessions, have a look at Ceri’s Disability and Dyslexia short video.